Hello, Brothers.

I don't know about all of you, but since I've changed my thinking about the naked body, bringing into alignment with God's Word instead of the traditions of men, I have experienced a fabulous freedom from the allure of pornography.

For 30 years, I experienced a low-grade and persistent bondage to pornography... not all the time, but never free from its pull. I tried everything that you hear to deal with it... Scripture memory, accountability, prayer targets, fasting/praying, etc. But most of those things only enhanced my focus on illicit materials (even though I was focussing on avoiding them, I was still focussed on them!). So the allure NEVER left me. Ever. And I always fell back into it.

But when I reexamined the Scriptures' teaching about the naked human body, and came to a very different understanding than I had always had before, and I embraced the naturists' perspective, I experienced a genuine freedom from even the allure of pornography. I find myself now disgusted by the falseness of it all. It's degrading and dishonest and dishonoring to women.

I can feel the difference in my heart! The allure is gone.

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Now, I suspect that I'm not the only pastor who has experienced such a transformation.

Therefore, I'm looking to compile a document from pastors telling their stories of freedom. I understand that anonymity is most likely going to be expected in each case, so please don't worry about that. My intent is to have a document that could be shared with other pastors for their encouragement and instruction, and to challenge them in their thinking about Biblical nudity.

Would you pastors who have had similar experiences be willing to tell your story?

If so, please post your story here. If you'd rather post completely anonymously, go to http://cnvillage.org and login (or join if needed) and send it in a Private Message (I go by MatthewNeal at CNV) to me and I'll make sure it is not obviously connect to your real name or online handle.
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Please use the following as a guideline.

1. Give us a basic understanding of the nature of your involvement in pornography before.

2. Describe the transformation and how significant it as been since you adopted a Biblical/naturist mindset regarding nudity.

3. Tell us how long you've been living in this freedom.

4. Relate to us the basic denominational/faith tradition from which you come (not enough details for us to figure out who you are, but enough to give us your general affiliation... eg. I'm a conservative protestant evangelical.)

You can also include anything else you might feel is significant to your story... like how it impacted your relationship with your wife or family or others... or how you came to your new understanding, etc. Just make it your story and relate your testimony.

Thanks!

Matt

Matt,
Thanks for that interesting and powerful story (not to mention the confession).

You are experiencing what many have already experienced in years past after understanding naturism! I too have realized just how demeaning the women have been subjected to. But what is scary is that there are women and men who deliberately put themselves into that situation and seems to "enjoy" it.

They have a slavery of their own and are needing to be freed from it. But they feel they are "free" and are actually putting their bodies out for all to not only see, but to touch, feel, use and abuse.

I hope the stories will pour in!

Boyd Allen
"May the Lord protect our nudity from the sight of those who will not benefit, and may he allow us to be seen by those who will."

Hi Matt,

I think that is a great idea. I never had a major problem with porn myself (aside from mostly a simple curiosity about what these people do), so naturism has had little influence on me in that regard. It does help to know that nudity is not wrong or sexual.

One thing I wanted to mention is, our pastor teaches "the law of replacement," taught in psychology. Basically, the only way to overcome one thought, habit, etc., is to replace it with another thought, habit, etc. Have you ever heard the saying, "Whatever you do, don't think about pink elephants?" Inevitiably, you will. This shows how our brains work. That is, our brains don't understand "don't" (as part of a command), but they only understand the directive, i.e. "think about pink elephants." Again, to overcome this, you simply replace that thought with some other thought.

For a brief discussion about this read this page (or simply Google "law of replacement"):
http://www.berniewilt.com/blog/archives/000034_practice_the_law_of_replacement.php

Another page that touches on this is:
http://www.ukhypnosis.com/Autosuggestion.htm

Anyway, when you think about it, this is why naturism has worked for you and so many others. Instead of trying to overcome your interest in porn by trying not to think about it, you overcame it by replacing it with something else, namely naturism. BTW...This works for every aspect of life, too, from overcoming other temptations to simply trying to lose weight.

Greg C
http://www.geocities.com/greg_pc/

I have heard that broke (or poor) people actually think about money far more often than rich people do. I have heard poor people saying things like "All rich people do is think about money!" But in reality, they have no reason to think about it. They got enough. Its the poor people that are always saying things like "I dont' have enough", "I am always broke", "I'll never be rich", "Money never comes my way", "There is not enough money in the world" and "Rich people always think about money".

Seems I do that too. I wonder why? And now I see why I am always broke, because your mind believes it and does not believe it can be otherwise.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012:2;&version=51;

Boyd

"But in reality, they have no reason to think about it. They got enough."

Reminds me of the story someone told about John D. Rockefeller (one of the richest men in the 19th century). Apparently someone asked Mr. Rockefeller "How much money is enough?" He thought, and answered, "Just a little bit more."

Ask someone what the "righteous" ammount for a yearly income and they will probably reply with "about 25-30% more than what I'm making now".

It doesn't matter what that ammount is! So if someone is making $35k a year will say around 40-50k, they will probably say that anyone who wants to make more than 55 or 65k is being selfish and lustful for money.

But ask someone who makes 100k, and they will probably say about 120-130k. Any more than that is...well...you get the idea!

Boyd


Boyd Allen
"May the Lord protect our nudity from the sight of those who will not benefit, and may he allow us to be seen by those who will."

We were sitting around work one day and trying to decide how much you'd need to win in the lottery to be able to stop working and be able to spend without worrying about it. We came up with the figure of ten million dollars so you could live off the interest at the level you're living at now and not worry about costs. Of course, I guess the reality is that you'd end up finding ways to spend more and more until you used up that money. Kind of like no matter how much time you have, you'll find things to do that will still make you late to an appointment.

Perhaps, instead of trying to gather more, we should consider how to live on less. Wearing clothes only for protection is a good start.

Actually, I would probably spend more on quality clothing if I only have to wear it once in a while rather than all the time. Nothing wrong with that, just don't want to be pushed to wear them constantly!

Even living on a low budget, you can still purchase quality clothing if you are not depending on wearing it full time. Even poor people in the US can find clothing, just have to wear is constanty and having to spend what little they have to keep it up, washed, repaired, replacements. Talk about a waste of money! Again, ecologically and economically, nude is better!

I am beginning to think that being nude can make you:
Healthy: Less dirt and germs being carried, sun light added to your life, fresh breezes and comfort.
Wealthy: Less money spent on useless shopping, washing, etc. See Ecologically Sound
Wise: We learn a lot about how nudity or the fear of nudity has affected our lives, not only ecologically and economically, but spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

Benjamin Franklin was a nudist as well (not as much as we are, but in his way he was) and was the one who said "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." But I wonder if there was more to it than that. A nude sleeper and nude when he got up early?

Boyd Allen
"May the Lord protect our nudity from the sight of those who will not benefit, and may he allow us to be seen by those who will."

Plus, healthier mentally and spiritually. Many in the outside, clothed world would strongly disagree, but I've found myself freed of the shackles of anxiety when nude. Yes, it returns, but I keep trying to renew myself. Plus, my wife and I have grown closer each because of it viewing our bodies in a new light and enjoying each other even more.

I share with you a brief encounter with a repentant sinner... they were going up for an altar call and afraid of it all... just behind me in line... got a chance to get in a good plug '''''''don't just avoid the bad -- porno in this case -- but make aconscious effort each day to do some good for someone.. sort of like taking a pill.. it does help..

This is the philosophy of the eastern Christians... belive me it does work...

Viking
from the land of the north....